Международный архитектурный конкурс

A museum in a dome

Location analysis
Yaroslavl constructs a city of the Golden Ring and has critical implication in Russian history both trading and political view-point. There are many monasteries and churches especially along the Volga River, which is the longest and the one of the most beautiful river and important infrastructure for transportation in the Russia. They have unique and eye-catchy shapes and facade and create unique scenery and atmosphere of this area. This area around the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monasteries listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2005.

In the future, these sightseeing resources will be more valuable for this city and area. Conservation will be a keyword for this city. At the same time, the city should be planned the citizen and people in the city can live and stay in the city vividly and comfortably enjoying “now”. As for such historic area and city, this reconciliation is predestinated forever.

Thus, we proposed in this plan to well-balanced combination and sequence between “old” conventional monuments and buildings and “new” this plan, and provide new value — experience for the visitor — in the synergy.

Approach design
This site is planned as one of a new tourism resources in Yaroslavl. It means the design should be regarded the visitors are new for this place and unexperienced. Temporality to use is one of the main view-point of this design. Thus, the form of the building and views are designed to give some perceptions of the functions for unexperienced visitors. The visitors can access to their purpose without any stress and insecurity to enhance their experiences at that place.

This approach is designed dual-directions. One is the north-east side approach to lead festival area through the green road park. The festival space is designed along with the approaching direction naturally to be likely to be accepted the existence and function.

The other approach is the other side, the west-north side. It is approaching from the public transportation to the permanent collection exhibitions.

Both approaches are connected with the symbolic pedestrian deck designed along the south side of this building. The visitors whose purpose is the others is leading the place naturally. And it gives some awareness and expectation to the visitors whose purpose is not there to cheer up the next activities and expectation. This pedestrian deck is also designed to wrap up all the functions and connect each other to balance and unify. Pedestrian and automobile approach are designed separately with different vertical level and time to keep safe and give unified sequential experience without any disconnection and interrupt.

Skyline
Not to destroy and keep the atmosphere in the area with neighbor churches, monasteries and the Volga River, the vertical interval of the site is utilized for the height design. Major of this building is planned in the ground to minimize the visible volume. Simple and inorganic skyline of this plan with membrane conformation is efficient to reduce the impact of coercive pressure due to the large volume creating against the visitors. At the same time, it is keeping an adequate presence in comparison of organic shapes around there. It is creating familiarity and tolerance for the visitors.

Construction and relevant Facilitation
In hopes of the minimization of the coercive pressure due to the large volume and create a certain presence with familiarity, inorganic simple skyline of this plan is efficient enough to create a new unique message against the surrounding organic shapes and buildings. We adopted membrane structure in this plan.

The membrane system is mainly 8m grid wired frame. The membrane itself is constructed double layers of glass cloths coated with fluorine resin. The shape is kept with 3 hPa (0.3%) positive pressure against the outside. The apparatuses to blow the air are set in the basement floor. During carrying-in and -out of the goods and opening hours for events, the operation rate of the wafter/blower is adjusted to control the positive inner air pressure. Ventilation is controlled by total heat exchanger. It is effective to keep inner air pressure and temperature to save the winter heating cost. Entrance is designed by double doors. It is effective in lightweight, shortening construction period and cost saving as well.

Façade, and Elevation
The external appearance and circumference is designed with wavy shape support of the membrane which is intended to appeal of the design concept and smooth circulation and sequence of the functions in series from the outside. The wave height is consistent but wave length is included irregularity rhythm to describe the flexibility, smoothness, and tolerance. The circumference is designed with translucent materials. The people through deck around the south-side of this building could get a glimpse of inside. The glimpse during the approach is fermenting the expectation of the purpose more and more and dramatize the experience and contented much richer.

Inner Design: Zoning, Planning, and Section
The functions are required both high- and low-temporality. They are included permanent collection exhibition of cultural resources and property of Yaroslavl. At the same time, it is the place to be held events and festivals provisionally. The functional zoning should be planned to make simple to avoid misunderstanding and complicated feeling to the visitors. But we intend to give some other impression and awareness of the other function(s) to lead the next activities and visit.